Seed groups or packages are used or sold based on the estimated quality or any other marketable specific characteristic of the seed group. The background art identifies a seed group as having a specific characteristic by testing a sample of the seed group and using the results obtained from the tested sample to identify the entire seed group with respect to that specific characteristic. For example, one type of specific characteristic which can be used to label a seed group is the vigor rating of the seed group. The vigor rating informs potential buyers how vigorous the seeds in the package are expected to be. The way of determining how vigorous the seed group or package is may be determined by testing a sample group from the seed group for a specific vigor indication such as germination. The sample group may be tested for vigor by testing each seed in the sample group for germination by measuring the seed's oxygen consumption at a specific time. According to the background art, the test results, based on the measured oxygen consumption of the sample group of seeds, are used to identify the vigor rating of the entire seed group from which the sample group was taken. Packages of seeds coming from the same group are then classified as having the same vigor rating.
More generally, a seed group may be classified using this method of classification for any type of desired seed classification which is based on testing for a specific characteristic desired by the seed market. Various methods exist which describe sampling a seed group for a specific characteristic to classify the entire seed group as having some classification level of the specific characteristic based on the tested sample group. Background art also describes sorting individual seeds based on their color, weight, or shape. However, nowhere in the background art is it known to analyze each and every seed after it has been imbibed or began to grow for an entire seed group, e.g. amounting to tens of thousands or millions of growth-induced seeds, for a specific characteristic in order to determine whether an individual seed subjected to a growth-inducing environment will be separated and transferred to be a part of a grouping of growth-induced seeds for commercial use or sale where every seed in the grouping or package has been subjected to growth and monitored and determined for a specific characteristic, and thus, can be marketed as such.
Background art also teaches sowing all the seeds of a group of seeds into a plant growing tray. After some time, the background art uses image analysis to identify which cells in the plant tray do not have good quality plants by monitoring for the leaves of the plant tray. The background art takes only an instantaneous image or one-time snapshot of the plant tray so that plant leaf growth per cell of the tray can be evaluated. A gap in the image is defined as an indication that a particular cell or cells in the plant tray contain a poor quality plant and need replacement. After such a determination, the background art removes the existing plant or lack thereof from that particular cell of the tray and places in that cell location an adequately growing plant. Background art does not provide analysis of a plant before the leafing stage starts. Also, the background art does not identify seeds that are more likely to germinate or seedlings that have germinated before placing the seed or seedling (or as used herein the broader term “germinated seed”) in a cell of the tray. Such an earlier indication produces a better product to come to market sooner.